On a bright sunny day, London Scottish U16’s headed away to Ruislip for the third time in as many years. Each time before we have played and come away with a narrow loss, the difference being a single score each time. So it was good for the guys to claim a win, and equally good that it got their league fixtures off with to a Win.
Early on, Scottish were pressuring Ruislip, and looked to be making gains before Ruislip got hold of a loose ball, shipped it through the hands to their right wing, who stepped on the gas and was able to make the breakaway try. Conversion missed. Scottish came straight back. A driving maul from a well worked lineout took the ball to within sight of the line. With the ball released to the backs, Ted saw an opportunity and cut back inside scoring left of the posts. Ted then converted taking Scottish into the lead.
Ruislip, were the next to take the initiative and managed to work the ball to the right wing, who again raced through for the score. This time they got the conversion putting them ahead for the second time in the match. This time Scottish started to play some of the moves they had been practicing in training. The ball went through a number of phases, using the forwards in a pod, before shipping out to the backs where Gabriel cut through the midfield defence to go over near the posts. Ted again stepped up for the conversion.
With the halt time talk over, Scottish started playing more of their training moves. A lineout in the left hand corner was shipped to the pod from the breakdown. Will burst through to dot down the try. Ted again converted. Ruislip bounced straight back, and put some pressure on a ruck in our 22 left hand side. Having won the counter ruck they had numbers on the blind side and converted the 2 on 1 overlap again with their right wing. However, the try was out wide, and Ruislip were again unable to make the conversion.
Scottish worked their way upfield and earned a penalty close to the Ruislip line. A simple tap and pass set Thomas off with the ball. Changing the angle of his run he cut left and barrelled over for a try in the corner. Ted tried hard with the conversion, but this time it came back off the posts.
With the score at 17-26 in favour of the Scots, it looked like Scottish had started to fashion a winning lead. However, credit to Ruislip, they upped their game and their forwards put in some tremendous drives that eventually led to them going over right of the posts. This time they got the conversion and had pegged the game back to 24-26.
Some big hits were going in now as both teams tried their best to make the final minutes their own. Captain Will went off after taking one low to the side in the ribs, and without a sub, Scottish had to face the last 7 minutes a man down. Ruislip sniffed an advantage, and from a scrum outside the 22 the right wing came off his wing to give an extra man in the centres. The extra man was the difference, and a well timed pass gave a try to the left wing in the corner. Conversion missed, and minutes on the clock, it looked like Ruislip had done enough to win the match. But full credit to Scottish, they worked the ball upfield from the restart, and after a number of phases shipped the ball to Thomas loitering in the unaccustomed position of left wing. His run down the line was perilously close to the touch line and you felt a good tackle would have taken him out. However, he kept his feet and gave himself a little space so that when the tackle finally came he had enough space to go to ground and stretch out for a try in the corner. That meant the lead had changed hands for the sixth time in the match, and it turned out to be the final time as the whistle went as Ted’s final touchline kick hit the posts again.
Final Score: Ruislip 29 – 31 London Scottish
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